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This is the Morning Shift, our one-stop daily roundup of all the auto news that's actually important — all in one place at 9:00 AM. Or, you could spend all day waiting for other sites to parcel it out to you one story at a time. Isn't your time more important?

1st Gear: The Party's Almost Over In JapanBloomberg reports that federal subsidies meant to boost car sales in Japan are about to run out, and analysts expect fourth-quarter sales to plunge unless the subsidies are restocked. It's been swell while it lasted. Industry sales are up 53 percent this year thanks to the incentives, which have sent consumers rushing to showrooms. The government set aside $3.8 billion in breaks for consumers who buy energy-efficient vehicles, and about 88 percent is gone. (Think the Cash for Clunkers program from 2009.) Analysts say that if the incentives go away, industry sales will drop by about 20 percent. There's reason to worry, since Japan is once again Toyota's biggest market. Bloomberg says it will probably stay in first place among the world's carmakers, even if the subsidies go away. But all the automakers would really like their sales at home to be stable, given what happened to the market last year after the earthquake and tsunami.

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2nd Gear: GM Wants To Short Week The GermansThe Wall Street Journal (sub. required) reports that GM and its German unions are getting close to a deal that would let GM operate shortened work weeks at two of its plants. If they can agree this week, the proposal could be implemented Sept. 1. GM basically wants the ability to adjust shifts at its Russelsheim and Kaiserslauten plants. Union reps say that's a better option than layoffs. The agreement would let GM run shortened hours at its plants when demand is lower, and run longer hours when demand is higher. The German government would make up any shortage in pay during the weeks when GM cuts shifts, according to the Journal. GM is under a lot of pressure to come up with a rescue plan for Opel, which has been its biggest financial headache this year.

3rd Gear: BMW Goes Low With the X3Autocar reports that BMW is going downscale with a version of the X3, and will offer it for the first time in rear-wheel drive, not just all-wheel drive. The BMW X3 sDrive18d is set to go on sale in October in the UK. It is powered by a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder TwinPower turbo diesel, which gets 55.4 mpg in combined city/highway driving. The car over there comes with a standard six-speed manual gearbox, and Autocar says an eight-speed auto is available as an option.

4th Gear: Robots Will Make You IrrelevantThe New York Times says there's a new generation of adept robots that can do far more delicate tasks than their clunky predecessors. These robots aren't just welding or moving sheet metal from one side of the aisle to the other.

They're assembling things like electric shavers and basically threatening to eliminate even more jobs than they already have. "With these machines, we can make any consumer device in the world," said Binne Visser, an electrical engineer who manages the Philips assembly line in Drachten, in The Netherlands. Of course, robots can't get on the phone to a supervisor, nor can they diagnose themselves when they make a mistake. There will be plenty of need for trained technicians to dive into a cell when the red light flashes on the control board.

Tony Scott, the director of such beloved classics as Top Gun and Days of Thunder, was found dead today after jumping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro earlier this afternoon, an apparent suicide. More »

Reverse: Pro Football Is Born, Giving Car Companies A Reason To Live
On this day in 1920, seven men met at the Jordan and Hupmobile Auto Showroom in Canton, Ohio, putting in motion creation of the American Professional Football Conference (APFC), the precursor to the National Football League. It's fitting that what became the NFL was born in a car dealership, since the auto industry and pro football are so inextricably linked. The league began play on September 26, with the Rock Island Independents of Illinois defeating a team from outside the league, the St. Paul Ideals, 48-0. A week later, Dayton beat Columbus 14-0 in the first game between two teams from the forerunner of the modern NFL.[History]

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Today, how do you feel about governments offering incentives to people to buy cars? Did you take advantage of Cash for Clunkers? Or did you think the program was a bad idea? Would you like to see the U.S. do something like that again? Remember there's no right answer or wrong answer. It's Neutral.